The Man of Genius

The MediaBook studio presents an audiobook of the famous Italian scientist and psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso—“Genius and Madness. A Parallel Between Great Men and Madmen.”

“…Some of genius’s dependence on pathological changes can partly explain the curious feature of genius compared to talent, in the sense that it is something unconscious and appears completely unexpectedly. … A talented person acts strictly by reason; he knows how and why he came to the famous theory, whereas with a genius it’s completely unknown—any creative activity is unconscious. …There are cases when, due to the same causes that so often lead to madness—namely, diseases and injuries of the head—the most ordinary people become geniuses. About Lenau and Montesquieu, it was said that on the floors near the desks where they worked, you could notice indentations left by their constant leg twitching. Buffon, absorbed in his own thoughts, once climbed up into a belfry and descended from it by rope completely unconsciously… Napoleon suffered from constant twitching of his right shoulder and lips, and during fits of rage also his calves. Peter the Great was prone to twitching of the facial muscles, which terribly distorted his face. Ampère could not speak any other way than by walking around and moving every part of his body.” Cesare Lombroso, “Genius and Madness.” Listen, like, and actively comment!)